Ice Fishing Shipwreck
YouTube: Wisconsin Fisherman

Angler Discovers Shipwreck While Fishing Crystal-Clear Ice of Lake Superior

The Great Lakes offer some of the best freshwater fishing in the country, as anglers flock to these waters in waves to target a huge variety of species that can be caught year-round. In fact, this part of the country is home to some of the most popular ice fishing honey holes, at least in the areas where it gets cold enough to freeze over enough to support fishermen.

Lurking underneath, however, is an endless supply of history and imperfect treasures, among which are a large number of shipwrecks. Many of these have remained undiscovered, particularly those that are submerged especially deep. However, some of them have settled in the shallows and are occasionally spotted from the surface. We see this in the following clip, which spotlights a barge that was discovered by the Wisconsin Fisherman during a trout fishing expedition.

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While the Great Lakes are incredibly beautiful, they are also extremely treacherous for sailors. Lake Superior is the deadliest of them all, claiming countless lives ever since ships began sailing these waters. November is an especially notorious time for the lake when huge storms roll in. One of those storms swallowed up the 729-foot long freighter Edmund Fitzgerald back in 1975 with the loss of all 29 souls on board.

Seeing a wreck like this barge is a good reminder of just how dangerous these lakes are. It's probably rare that ice conditions are perfect enough to be able to walk over the top of a wreck like this. The only good news about these shipwrecks is that they become structure for the fish and an obvious target for anglers if you know where one is located.

As you saw, he was able to pull several splake out of the immediate vicinity, including one large enough for dinner. We just loved the mix of fishing action and history encapsulated here. Thanks for sharing your awesome footage with the world Kyle!

For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels

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